Editor: The Tennessee bill bars giving guns to certain mental health patients. It would be a crime to give someone a gun knowing that person recently received inpatient mental health treatment. It didn’t pass, but was instead punted to 2026 due to issues with language used in the bill. At first I was glad to see movement on the issue Republicans claim is the cause of all mass shootings. However, I was surprised to have my mind changed by other perspectives on language used in the bill and on the possible “side effects” that could arise. Interesting read!
Rep. Shaundelle Brooks, a Hermitage Democrat, named the bill “Akilah’s Law” in honor of her son Akilah Dasilva, who was killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018.
The shooter, Travis Reinking of Morton, Illinois, had a history of schizophrenia and delusions. Prior to the shooting, Illinois State Police had revoked his firearm owner identification card, forcing him to surrender his guns to his father. His father then returned the guns to Reinking, breaking Illinois state law.
Tennessee bars giving firearms to juveniles or intoxicated people, but not those who have been committed for mental health evaluation.
Brooks said her bill intends to bring Tennessee in line with the Illinois law that prohibits someone from giving or selling a firearm to a person who has been a patient in a mental health institution within five years.
Brooks’ bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee in late March, but questions over the bill’s scope and language arose in the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 8.
Sen. Paul Rose, a Southwest Tennessee Republican, asked for clarity on what the bill defines as a “mental health institution” and what it means to be “admitted.” Rose questioned whether a person who makes routine visits to a mental health provider for medication would be considered a patient of a mental health institution under the bill’s definition.
The bill’s Senate sponsor, Memphis Democrat Raumesh Akbari, said she did not believe the bill would apply in that case.
Elliot Pinsly, president and CEO of the Behavioral Health Foundation, said the way the legislation is written could have a “chilling effect on people’s willingness to seek mental health treatment in Tennessee.” Pinsly, a licensed clinical social worker, founded the policy-focused nonprofit in 2020.
“The actual bill makes it a crime punishable by up to one year imprisonment to sell, give or otherwise transfer a firearm to a person who has received just about any kind of mental health care or addiction treatment in the past five years, voluntary or involuntary, outpatient or inpatient,” Pinsly said.
Facing uncertainty on the outcome of a committee vote, Akbari chose to move the bill to the general subcommittee, essentially putting it on ice until it can be resurrected in 2026.
“I look forward to Representative Brooks continuing to move this through the House … I will be working with all members on this committee so that we can reach a solution so we can really protect folks in Tennessee,” Akbari said.
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